Holger Czukay & David Sylvian: Plight & Premonition Flux & Mutability. On vinyl/CD at Norman Records UK.
Love the cover and I'm very happy to see these CDs re-released. I would have bought them instantly if I wasn't completely broke right now (no job).
They don't appear to be mass-printed either, so I don't know how much time I have before they're only on eBay and Discogs with a sick markup. After all, I can't say when a job opportunity pops up in the ****hole I have to live in.
Hope your luck turns for the better. I was a huge Sylvian fan in the 80s but these albums I never got for some reason, so I'm glad they are being reissued.
It's like a lottery where I live. Sometimes little jobs turn up and then one can earn some cash for "pleasures". However, this year has been awful so far money-wise. I'm glad the latest Bowie remasters are crap - I at least don't have to regret not having money for those*. These albums by Sylvian and Czukay never had any release in my country and I never even saw any imports of them here. This re-release is awsome. The CDs are priced great, too. 11 pounds + 3 pounds for shipping. It's not much, relatively speaking, so I would jump on them if I had any cash in the wallet/PayPal account. Alas, for now I can only hope. *It's just a joke. They ARE crap, but I'm not glad about it.
I've been curious about the different CD options for Brilliant Trees. After reading this thread, it looks like some people like the later remaster and others like the one from the Weatherbox set, but I'm not sure if there's a solid consensus? I have the US CD on Caroline that tacks on Words with the Shamen (here's the Discogs entry), which to me sounds muffled and veiled compared to an original UK LP that I have, which is crisp, clear, and detailed. I'd prefer to find a CD that sounds closer to the LP, if possible. I've always been super happy with the LP, obviously, but I'd like to find the best sounding version of this on CD as well. Does anyone know if the 80s UK CD versions sound closer to the LP, or at least less muddy than the US Caroline pressing? Or am I better off with the later remaster?
The old CD is both muffled and thin. The remaster is an enormous improvement in every way. This should give you an idea: Japan and David Sylvian remasters
That’s a tough one to call as there are quite a few versions that more than likely share similar mastering... maybe Paul Rymer could chime in on this one ;-) The original Weatherbox CD has the low peaks that throw some listeners off immediately, but when level adjusted sounds as good as anything else... One of the early Japanese releases shares similar low peaks, and another Japanese issue has higher peaks... The CD single release CDT23 has higher peak-levels and is DR14 compared to the more regular DR15 on the other early releases, I’m inclined to favour this one. The later 2003 Remaster sounds is very good, but you might be reaching for the volume control depending on your equipment, some people find it fatiguing, but it’s worth checking out for ease of availability and price. I had the original vinyl and cassette-tape issues, but both are long gone... Back in the 80s I would have listened with bass/treble turned up and loudness on :-( So don’t ask me to compare on what I remember ;-)
I still have my original CD of Brilliant Trees. It was among the first CDs I ever bought and I think it sounds good. I picked up another copy from ebay yesterday for $10 delivered.
Which CD you think is the best sounding version is likely to depend on your views of old v newer remastered CDs in general. My favourite is the Japanese 32VD-1012 which is not dissimilar to both the Weatherbox & the original UK CD. Although I tend to prefer older CDs & certainly do in this case I don't think the 2003 remaster sounds poor & you may well prefer it.
Generally I prefer older or original CDs too, but there are occasional exceptions. I just can't help but imagine that there's got to be a better alternative to this early-mid 90s Caroline/US Brilliant Trees CD. While it's nice and quiet, it really does sound off (a bit muffled) tonally to me. Sometimes I can live with a slightly louder CD if the tone is right and it's not too compressed.
I'm telling you, there's no better version than the 2003 remaster. They did a super job on that. It had a new transfer and its mastering engineer is a long-time collaborator of Sylvian. Forget about those old CDs in this case.
Well, my curiosity is piqued and I'm certainly open to hearing it. I'll report back when I've had a chance to check it out.
I liked the old CD at first, but it sounded off to me. I then had a chance to buy a brand new copy of the remaster and was blown away by it. It's a much cleaner transfer and the EQ has a beautiful balance. Tony knew what he was after.
Sorry I was at cross purposes there - I originally thought you were talking about the ‘Words With The Shamen’ (Alchemy) EP, so please totally ignore my above ramblings unless you plan on purchasing the ‘Alchemy’ album anytime soon.... Brilliant Trees will be fairly similar, but I think the general consensus is Victor VDP-38 is the best, but basically it’s a brighter version of what you said you don’t like, so if you’d prefer a weightier presentation go with Tosh-EMI 32VD-1012 - bear in mind most later Japanese reissues up until the Remasters use this same master, so no need to look for an expensive first-release copy... But, you may prefer the Remaster if you like a louder fuller sound ? Might be worth getting a couple of samples..
Depending on your gear... And what u like. Both are quite good. The older has some subtleties that disappear on the 2003, we had a discussion about this a while back. I think Takehaniyasubiko gave u a link. Him and me disagreed on this one.
This is totally don't get because the new transfer is so much better that the 2003 version has more details if anything (just like the Beehive remaster).
Not sure if there is any consensus on Brilliant Trees, certainly not around VDP-38 as it is so damn rare! I prefer the 1984 UK CD but I'd like to get the Victor VDP-38 to compare. I really like the Japan CDs produced by Victor in the 80s. However, none of the 2003/4 remasters of Japan or Sylvian are terrible, they just aren't as good as they could be.
One thing to be careful of is that some of the Brilliant Trees UK CD pressings suffer from that PDO bronzing issue - you might want to seek out one of the German pressings with the blue CD face.
Just done a comparison between the 1999 and 2008 Dead Bees (official download) and although there has been no mention of remastering there is greater dynamic range when compared to the CD - most noticeable on Thalheim.
hey Paul, thats interesting, well spotted.... Is that Download from one of the official 'Artist' websites or Qubus etc.. ???
